Why John Elway should stop talking

Ted BartlettFeb 6, 2011 11:00 AM

When I write a long column, I number my different topics and always retire Number 7 for John Elway. I've seen that done by others, here and there, and I always think it's cool to be the guy who started it. As a player, John Elway's career was amazing, and he's very well-deserving of having his greatness honored in whatever little way that people like us can do it. I advocated for the hiring of Elway to a front office role, and I was glad when it happened, but I have to tell you, I'm troubled with what I've been seeing from him.

I have no doubt that Elway is a smart guy, and I have little doubt that he can be a good front office guy. I keep hoping that he'll stop with the media blitz, and that he realizes that it's inappropriate, but there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. I listened to Brian Xanders on Sirius NFL Radio last night, and he's been at it too. It seems like they want to be the public faces of the Denver Broncos, and this is a huge mistake. The front office should speak to the media sparingly, and only in the offseason. Otherwise, they severely risk handcuffing the Head Coach, who is essentially required by NFL policy to be the public face of the team.

Here in snowy Cleveland, I witnessed the phenomenon of the overly talkative front office, and it blew up badly on ex-Browns GM Phil Savage. Romeo Crennel pretty clearly wasn't Head Coach material, and a lot of the reason is that he's a fairly quiet, introverted guy. He doesn't command a press conference or inspire the media to say nice things about him or the team. You know how a guy can be smart, but not really seem so in his public speaking, causing people to assume he's actually kind of dumb? That's what was going on around here with Romeo. Add to that the fact that he had some clock management mistakes, and a Romeo-Is-Dumb narrative really took off, even after the Browns were 10-6 in his second season.

Phil Savage started talking way too much to the media during the 2008 season, and even engaged in an inappropriate email tete-a-tete with some idiot fan. By doing so, he significantly diminished his own credibility and associated himself with the product on the field, which was very disappointing. After that season, both Savage and Crennel were canned, and the Browns started over with a whole new program, which has since given way to another whole new program. If Savage had just shut up, he wouldn't have been associated so much with the product on the field, and the Browns would have had sufficient cover to keep him. (Savage struggled with the management side of being the GM, but he was a good scout, as always.)

John Fox is the opposite of quiet or introverted. When he really gets his feet under him, he's going to have no problem being the public face of the team. There can only be one, and as I alluded to, the NFL requires coaches to address the media twice a week during every game week. He's directly responsible for the product on the field, and it's therefore appropriate for him to be the guy who's speaking for it. If the front office has it in their mind to be commenting as well, you almost can't help but send mixed messages and give the idiot Denver media rabbit holes to go down. Is there dissension at Dove Valley? What did John Elway mean when he said that the team needed to improve? Is John Fox in trouble? Enough speculation goes on already, and there's no need to facilitate more of it by being stupid.

Elway should be building consensus between Fox and Xanders. It's appropriate for him or Xanders (probably not both) to speak after the Draft ends and share some of the rationale of what they did, and help sell the product to the fans. The Draft class is their product. So is the free agent class. Once training camp starts, though, it's Fox's show, and he alone should be speaking for that product. This is how it's done throughout the NFL, and for good reason. While it's true that Elway talking won't cause any wins or losses, it will absolutely influence the media coverage of those things, most probably for the worst.

I get that the Broncos want to create touch points for fans, but John Fox needs to be the guy doing it, not John Elway. Elway needs to publicly be seen as above the fray - otherwise, when things start going wrong, he's not going to be able to separate himself from the mess. He's John Elway, and we all appreciate his importance in Broncos history, but things always get back to "what have you done for me lately?" If I think he's screwing up, I'll have no problem hitting Elway. Right now, I think he's screwing up in a non-meaningful way. If he keeps up this insistence on chatting with the media, it will eventually become meaningful. I'll always retire Number 7 for John, but understand that when I do, it's only on account of what he did as a player.

1. I’m not in the arguing business, I’m in the saying what I think business.
2. I get my information from my eyes.

I agree whole heartedly, I don&#8217t get the media blitz that Elway and Xanders had going. Actions speak louder than words. I will assume that they are trying to drive up the trading value of Orton, he by all appearances is a lame duck. If that was the purpose fine i get it, but it just seemed to open the door for more criticism. The media got another opportunity to take a shot at the Broncos,Tebow and Orton. Elway going on profootballtalk live was a dangerous deal, that site has already lined up on Elway. They predicted that he would be just another player who was great but flamed out in the FO. The time old principle of don&#8217t hand someone a gun to shoot you with comes to mind!

Posted by tom3565 on 2011-02-07 17:07:24

Good write-up, Ted. I wholeheartedly agree.

Posted by Gristle McThornbody on 2011-02-07 14:43:28

Loose lips sink ships.

Posted by Ponderosa on 2011-02-07 04:13:09

I agree 100% Ted. John should be studying more and talking less in my opinion.

Posted by Dennis Mitchell on 2011-02-07 04:03:04

Well spoken, Ted. What these guys should be talking about is how great it is that John Fox is the HC, his assembling staff to build this team into a playoff contender. IMO, any questions about who the QB will be should be directed to TC when the best QB wins the starting position. If Orton is gone (bad decision IMO) then the battle is between Tebow and Quinn and whomever they pickup as the 3rd QB. And Fox and his staff decide who plays.

I wondered what had happened in Cleveland. They had something good going there with Savage and Crennel. Then they screwed it up.

Just a parting shot: I have a feeling that the more that these guys try to shift blame to McDaniels - the more they had better be aware that McDaniels new team will be very good in the coming years. Usually who laughs last - laughs longest.

Go Broncos!

Posted by BlackKnight on 2011-02-07 01:30:29

Agreed wholeheartedly Ted. The Romeo Crennel analogy is very interesting, especially for those of us who hadn&#8217t heard the story before.

For my money, the first hint of a problem has already shown. Elway was talking about who would be the starting QB if the season started today. Now, I understand he may have been doing damage control for KO&#8217s trade value or damaged psyche or whatever. But

(1). Why would he even engage in anything resembling &#8220QB controversy&#8221 talk in February?

(2.) Whether it&#8217s a hypothetical in Feb, or a more concrete discussion in September&#8230shouldn&#8217t his answer as to playing time, who starts, etc., be a concrete &#8220Those decisions are for Coach Fox to make.&#8221?

Color me overreactionary, but the team hired an experienced, &#8220solid&#8221 head coach for a reason. Let&#8217s not undermine him already.

Posted by ncm42 on 2011-02-06 19:38:15

My problem with alot of the media coverage is that it is contradictory in nature. In a recent interview Xanders suggested that the player manuals arrived in 2010 with Matt Russell, when it is obvious that they were brought over in 2009 with Mcdaniels.

There has been rumors/reports/whatever that Mcdaniels ran the show completely and Xanders took a backseat to him. This seems like a very convenient way to avoid criticism for what happened during those two offseasons. Xanders was a high ranking employee and he deserves every bit of the blame that they are sort of shifting on too Mcdaniels. If he chose to say nothing and not stand up for what he believed in, then that is how he chose to do his job and making that choice does not give you a pass for criticism.

It just feels like a majority of this media coverage is to try and shift blame away from the people in Dove valley who have been there for the last 1-2 years. I understand how that is necessary and beneficial when convincing the less informed fans, which make up the majority of sales.

For me though, nothing is being discussed during these interviews of much value and all the questions I had in 2009 and 2010 with the front office are questions that I still have.

Posted by David Wilkie on 2011-02-06 17:47:07

1000% agree.

It feels like Elway and Xanders are out promoting their new &#8220buddy&#8221 film coming out next weekend. In a sense I suppose that is exactly what they&#8217re doing and pretty fitting.

However, Elway and Xanders are supposed to be the Weinstein brothers of the Broncos and they recently brought in Scorsese (solidly good - John Fox) to direct their new film. (I couldn&#8217t recall a young director who got canned during filming to reference McD).

But what you say right Ted. The producers stay in the background for a reason&#8230avoiding culpability. I thought the Elway twitters during the coaching search was borderline conduct, but now his and Xanders&#8217 promo tour is way too much.

If Elway and Xanders shows up on Letterman, I hope Elway puts a dog treat on Xanders nose (old stupid pet tricks reference).